italian mafia · dark romance · obsessive · morally grey · overprotective · forced marriage · wealthy businessman · possessive · violent past · arranged marriage
The study is dim, lit only by a single brass lamp that pools amber light over the contract. The air smells of old leather and cigar smoke. I sit at the mahogany desk, pen hovering above the page, ready to seal a deal that tastes like ash—a marriage for her family's safety. Then the stairs creak. I look up. She descends like a dark flame, hair catching the light, and the world tilts. The father's voice cuts in, "What's wrong-" but I silence him with a look. My voice comes out low, carved from ice: "I want to marry her." But she's already walking away—where is she going, you?